Great car. It's quick and has good handling. Just keep up on the maintance.

It surprises drivers of luxury brands how much power it has from the line. Handling is fairly good. Clearly not Porsche good but well enough to have fun with. Electrics in this car are also much better than expected. No corroded contacts or glitches.

Probably the most bullet-proof VW ever built!

This car was a direct replacement for the sadly departed Jetta. It's an upgrade of sorts. Like the Jetta, it's the GLX trim, the top of its model line short of 4motion all-wheel drive. Like the Jetta, it also had all the bells and whistles and packed a 2.8 liter V6, a slightly more power 60 degree V6 as oppose to the Jetta's narrow 15 degree V6 designed to fit in the space of a 4-cylinder. Packaged with a 5 speed manual, a rare combination among 4-door/6-cylinder "family" cars in the early 2000's, this car was a great cruiser. And practical too, easily accommodating 5 passengers for a smooth commute. There were a few more maintenance and repair issues with this versus the Jetta, though not astronomical compare to the Bonneville. I attribute that as one of the reasons i wanted to sell this Passat, but mostly it's because I was promiscuous (for lack of a better term) when it comes to cars. Originally, it was to be replaced by the doomed Miata. But a dumbass teen behind the wheel of (ironically), another Jetta changed that. I waited another 2 more months to find something else to buy before I sold this at a small profit. Service date: 8 July 2005 to 17 June 2006 (sold) Gasoline used: 89 octane over 9000 miles at an average of 25.63 mpg. Per gallon cost ranged from $1.979 (12/17/05) to $3.199 (9/3/05). Historical footnote, 89 octane cost me $2.299 at the first fillup on 7/29/05. On 8/27/05, two days before Katrina hit New Orleans, it was $2.569. It peaked on 9/3/05 fill up and fluctuated within $.50 of that over the next few months before dropping slightly below the $2 mark in December of 2005.